Coastal Defence Ships

Coastal Defence Ships were warships built for protecting littoral zones during the period 1860 to around the 1920s and 1930s. They varied in size but were most often cruiser-sized ships, ideal for nations that could not afford (or didn’t need) full-scale battleships to defend their shores. All Scandinavian countries operated them during the First or Second World Wars, as well as countries such as Thailand, Portugal, Argentina, and others at some point in history. They differed from monitors by having a higher freeboard, higher speed, and often a secondary armament. In many ways, they resembled scaled-down pre-dreadnought battleships or other similar warships.

They were mainly used as a mobile coastal artillery platform for shore defence against potentially hostile nations. They saw little combat in the First World War but were more widely used in the Second World War. Some larger navies that could afford full-scale battleships and cruisers still operated several smaller coastal defence vessels and sometimes these would be obsolete ships that were at the ends of their careers. The last coastal defence ship was scrapped in 1970 and their role has largely been superseded by fast attack craft, littoral combat ships and other “green water” ships.